Pectin test protocol

Practical guidelines by Karien O'Kennedy - 05 Apr 2016

The use of enzymes in winemaking is common practice today. There is a wide variety of pectinase based enzymes available to winemakers. Quality and efficacy differences exist and performing a pectin test is one way to establish the efficacy of a particular enzyme, especially when fast depectinisation before flotation is the objective.

Secretion of hydrolytic enzymes by non-Saccharomyces yeasts – a relevant trait for winemaking?

by Benoit Divol & Mathabatha Setati - 30 Oct 2015

The secretion of hydrolytic enzymes (e.g. proteases, glycosidases and pectinases) is known to be much stronger in non-Saccharomyces yeasts than in S. cerevisiae. This trait has been reported repeatedly in literature and identified as one of the main contributions of non-Saccharomyces yeasts. The aim of the current study was to screen a large collection of non-Saccharomyces yeasts for pectinase, β-glucosidase and protease activity all at pH 3.5 and to test the actual secretion of hydrolytic enzymes during fermentation of synthetic grape juice.